A few days ago, I decided to take a break from the demands of my job and join my relatives on a one-day excursion to a private farm in the highlands of Calamba City.
The place was situated on the rolling hills of the city near the border with Tanauan City, Batangas, with a majestic view of both Laguna de Bay and Mount Makiling to the east and the mountains of Tagaytay and the "People's Park in the Sky" in the west.
In the afternoon, when the wind was strong enough to blow away the heat somewhat, I had a chance to quietly think about my life and my future – a kind of retreat, if you will.
I had a chance to think about what might happen in the next 365 days that lie ahead.
Even as our publication is ready to shift to high gear, the threat of the Omicron variant looms large – and like last year, we’re still uncertain as to how we can move forward from the Covid-19 pandemic.
I had disturbing musings, yes, but I was grateful I had taken that day off in the first place, as it had afforded me a slice of time to really step back and think about what had happened last year, and my prospects for the future.
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According to one of the nuns who facilitated the retreat I attended way back in high school, the definition of “retreat” in the spiritual context is “the moment of looking back into our lives and trying to see where we stand; then and only then can we move on.”
Let’s face it, in our modern world, we hardly had a moment to think about where we stand.
The mounting demands of work and family, the need to catch up on the latest in everything, the fast pace of social media – all have seemingly deprived us of that opportunity to even sit down and even think about where we are now.
Even our so-called “rest periods” are now being encroached by the need to be updated with what’s happening around us.
The problem is, we are so preoccupied with catching up with the others that we lose sight of our goals, of our visions, of our dreams. We may find ourselves swallowed by other people’s dreams, or worse, stray from our principles.
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This is where the concept of “retreat” comes. There should be times in our lives when we should hit “pause” and devote our time to rediscovering ourselves.
You don’t actually have to go to “retreat houses” for this – it could be your favorite place, or even your favorite spot inside your house.
The important thing is you can have a quiet moment to yourself without the distractions of the outside world. And when we say “distractions,” that includes your gadgets and your social media accounts.
That’s the time when you can finally collect yourself, see where you are now, and see where you might be going, and what you can do to get yourself back on track.